Macron’s proposal to mollify Yellow Vest protesters fails to impress

The fine print of President Emmanuel Macron’s financial proposal, intended to end protests by France’s middle class and working poor, was still sinking in Tuesday, but many of the protesters already were expressing disappointment and calling for new demonstrations this weekend.

The president’s speech Monday evening detailed an increase in the amount minimum wage workers would receive in their pockets each month (100 euros, or $113), an exemption from taxes on overtime pay, and an exemption on certain social security taxes for retirees who earn less than 2,000 euros, or $2,265, a month.

But the intended beneficiaries of the changes said they were doubtful about how helpful they would be, and local elected officials said their constituents had mixed views of the president’s plan and his tone.

For the mayor of Plaisir, a town on the far outskirts of Paris, the proposal was a “first step that resembles an immediate band aid, to try to stop this uncontrolled wave,” said Joséphine Kollmannsberger. She watched the speech Monday with 50 local shopkeepers.

“There is real suffering in France. In the provinces there are deep difficulties,” the mayor added, with citizens suffering from low incomes and villages and towns struggling to afford the services they offer.

Although Macron’s proposals were not insignificant — they will cost the French government about 10 billion euros, or about $11.3 billion, said Bruno Le Maire, the finance minister — they will not touch many of those who have been demonstrating, who already earn more than the minimum wage.

And among the lowest earners, many viewed Macron as deceptive in his description of how much he would help people taking home the minimum wage.

“He made it sound like he was increasing the SMIC,” said Joelle Santos, who works as a janitor in Paris, referring to the minimum wage by its French acronym.

Her disappointment comes from the fine print.

Instead of raising the base wage, he adjusted a subsidy that low-wage earners can already claim from the government.

But the subsidy does not count toward a worker’s monthly salary figure and so is not part of the calculation for unemployment or retirement benefits. Nor are all low-wage earners automatically eligible for the subsidy.

A Yellow Vest protester, Axelle Cavalheiro, said, “With Macron, the rich just get richer and the poor get poorer.”

© 2018 New York Times News Service